Self-cleaning rake.



" D STATES PA OFFCE.

NICHOLAS J. CLUTE, OF SCH-EECTAIJY, NEW YORK; M. MATILDA CLUTE EXECUTRX OF SAID NICHOLAS J'JCLUTE, DECEASED.

SELF-CLEANING BAKE.

To all who/m, t may concern.

Be it known'that I, NICHOLAS J. CLUTE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady and State of New York,.l1ave invented cer.- tain new and useful Improvements in Self- Cleaning Rakes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates tonew and useful improvements in rakes and 'more particularly to simple andeicient cleaning means that will operate inf/ an extremely reliable and elfectivemanner to automatically strip the teeth of the 'rake of leaves, refuse or other foreign matter and which isso constructed as to be readily attachcd'ito and detached from rakes of various forms. f

Another object of importance is to provide novel means to automatically strip the teeth, which means consist of a stripping bar, spring andl rods connecting the stripping bar with the spring, which arts are arranged in a novel manner so that t ie rake may be operated in the usual manner without being interfered with and being capable of being readily assembled and disassem bled.

The above and additional objects are aceomplished by such means as are shown in the accompanying drawings, described `in vthe following specification and'then more particularly pointed out as claimed.

With reference to the drawings, wherein 'fi have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views in which similar reference letters designate corresponding parts, Figure l is a perspective view of a rake with my improved cleaning means attached. Fig'Zshows the rake with the coiled, spring hooked` on the pin L, which holds the stripping bar A up under the rake headA Fig. 3 shows the rake with the coiled spring t' hooked on the. pin

-ain Fig. 1 is the cleaning strip which may be of sheet metal or wire of the form I may choose to use, it contains a number of openings corresponding to the number, size, and form of the teeth of said rake, upon which said eleaningstrip moves freely Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led August 26, 1914. Serial No. 858,704.

PatentedN0v,'2,1915.

'o ind downfvery nearly the lengthof said tf-tet I' The aforesaid cleaning strip si 'isz-l is connected at opposite ends to the piece of rod or wire -bwhich extends upwardly to the head of said rake -7c where it meets the operating arms dand -ethe ends of which are flattened and bent around the rod or wire be- Yorming an easy working joint. The said operating ar' Iland -eextend along the handle of the rake to a point or center' corresponding withA the curve of said teeth, where they arev held by the metal strip -gthe opposite ends of which are bent tightly around the operating arms --dand `454-. .The metal piece *gis held in position by the screw -hwhich passes through it into the handle of the rake forming a freely moving hinge.

- The rods or wires forming the operating'l arms d and -eare bent downward and on opposite sides 'of thesaid handle in the form of the letter U1-.at the lower part of which a coiled'spring is attached as shown in Figs. `1-2* and -3-, the opposite end of which can Vbe qnicllay connected to either of the pins 'cor A- In operation when the rake is being used tension of the coiled spring Mz'- when it is hooked on pin --lceand when the rake is raised from the ground the Vcleaning strip -aN through the action 'of the coiled spring -z is forced' downward to the points lof the teeth thereby removing all refuse o6 of said teeth. Wlhen the spring -vlnis hooked on the pin the cleaning bar -ais held up under the head of the rake by the said spring; in this position te clean the rake invert it and tap it on the ground. when the cleaning strip -a, will be forced to the points of the teeth thereby removing all refuse. l

Itfwill be readily seen that I have provided an inexpensive,` simple, effective and ,durableself-cleaning rake attachment, that will operate in a reliable manner t0 autol matcally Aclean and strip the teeth of a rake of ,any refuse that may have \co'll ected thereon. A

the most ellicient'and practical. Yet I realizethat as the conditions will vary in the many forms of rakes, I desire it to be vunderstoodv that'y various, minor changes Ain details of construction, proportion and arrangements of the-several parts may be re# sorted to when required Without sacrificing any of the advantages `of my invention as herein set forth.

Havingthus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patf entis-" t Y l The-combination witha rake consisting of a'handle, a head, and Vteeth onsaid head,

of a cleaning bar or stripper, said cleaning bar moving freely up and down on saidteeth, operating arms which forni a movable joint ivith-l an inverted (U- shaped rod or wire which is rnzly secured to the said cleaning bar at opposite ends,l the said operating arms extending on either side of the `handle to a point Where they are held in position by a metal strip the opposite ends of which are bent tightly around the said i arms, the aforesaid metal strip being loeseiy secured tothe said. rake handle and forming a hinge at that point, the operating arms bein@ bent'downwardl on either side' of the handle of the said rake in the form of the lette'r -U- at the lower part of which a coiled spring issecured the, free end of which can be hooked on either of the pins {vhich are driven in the handle of the said rake underneath the same and on either side of the aforesaid -U- shaped projecting piece.

. NICHOLAS J. CLUTE. Witnesses:

OLIVER VAN AMBERG," EARL A. TWOMBLEY. 

